surveillance and taken by spectators at the scene. identified two suspects and here we are now, coming up on 9:00 p.m. one of the suspect is dead and one of those suspects, younger, dzhokar tsarnaev, 19-year-old, has been taken into custody alive. that's it for our coverage. our coverage of the latest developments in boston now continues with the rachel maddow show. >> chris hayes, it is 9:00 on the east coast. residents have flooded into the streets to applaud, to say thank you to law enforcement. to the massive law enforcement presence in watertown, massachusetts. the end of a 28-hour lock down, essentially in the city of massachusetts. nobody knew for sure it was going to end this way, but they got him. boston police say they have

taken their suspect into custody alive. they brought in an ambulance to transport him. he suffered a gunshot wound and lost blood. it was unclear how weakened he was. this followed the shootout last night. blocks from the neighborhood from the suspect's older brother was killed in a fire fight with police. this suspect taken into custody alive. remarkable ending, including the live shots right now. remarkable, including the reaction of people of greater boston and watertown specifically. remarkable ending to what has been an almost unbelievably tense week-long ordeal in boston and day-long ordeal involving the lock down. almost complete lock down of one of the largest cities in the united states. >> joining us live on the ground in watertown, massachusetts is nbc's erica hill.

erica, what can you tell us about where you are and what kind of reaction you're seeing? >> rachel, you may be able to hear pl there may be cheering. probably because there are police vehicles behind me coming through. every time a vehicle comes through, people start to applaud. there are more and more people coming on to the streets as you noted. we were in this neighborhood all day. it was eerily quiet. the only thing you saw was increased police presence near the helicopter overhead and media. everybody else was obeying orders to stay inside. when it was lifted a little after 6 okay. people slowly trickling out. as we know, there is another order to stay inside for those folks who run franklin street. that is where the suspect was apprehended and an officer lean offered and said, hey, he's in custody. they had him. every time they come through, very first police car that i saw come through, the officer driving ahad a huge grin on his face. as you mentioned, the suspect was captured alive. we believe it was a gunshot

wound. it is not clear what kind of condition he is in. an ambulance went by. did not appear he was in it but everybody is on the look oout t know why he is taken. >> erica, from your vantage point there in watertown, watching this unfold today, it was less than an hour after governor patrick lifted the shelter in place order for all of boston. less than an hour later, when we heard that large volley of gunfire in watertown and police just flooding that zoen zone, which ends in the process of those cheers tonight. can you describe for us the action that got to him? >> just in terms of time line of things, we first started hearing things on the scanner at a house at 67 franklin street a little bit before 7. okay. this wrapped up in about two

hours. >> as you point out, and we are expecting another press conference from the state police, but over my right shoulder we had seen a few s.w.a.t. vehicles and then all of a sudden they peeled out of here. once they started it move, a number of vehicles were coming through. officers were moving so much more quickly than earlier under the day. there was a purpose to their movement. they were not making eye contact. they had no comment for anybody's questions. but they were bringing in so many more officers. at least one bus load came in. two dozen officers, not to mention all of the cars that came through. can you tell they meant business. they were clearly on to something and they wanted to get there as quickly as tle could. >> erica, in terms of what we are seeing on the streets. can you give us a sense of what it like for residence in watertown today? even once the governor lifted the shelter in place order, the

police did explain that doesn't necessarily apply to you in watertown. there will be extreme measures taken in the blanket presence of law enforcement in watertown. how did people cope with not being able to leave their homes, knowing the suspect was in fact among them. >> one of the things that is interesting, they were going house to house searching rachel. they told us, they searched 20 blocks, 20 streets. when they came to streets next us to, again they didn't come making a huge presence. they were in full gear. they had guns out. they had k-9 teams but went calmly to each house. there is a balcony we could see. we saw two people come out on the balcony and it appears the officers said to them, we need to you get back inside. three officers stationed on the street throughout the rest of the afternoon. you would see talking to someone on the front stoop but they didn't linger long. they went back inside. even after the shelter in place

order was lifted, we heard a an increased police presence here in water toup. it is expected to last two to three days. the police chief saying, there are events tomorrow, on saturday. we will have them. but just with increased police presence. you can imagine the relief many people feeling tonight. not only that they can come outside and be on the streets as you can can hear them hear all around us. but tomorrow they can go to the event they have planned, perhaps without added police presence they were expecting. >> erica hill on the ground. thank you. as residents fled out of their homes to the streets to cleer on law enforcement to congratulate them as boston police say emphatically, we got him. joining us is correspondent pete williams. can you tell us what happens now that they do have him? >> reporter: is starts with the

woman's house who has the boat in the backyard. she alerted police that she saw blood on the tarp of her boat. she called police. they sent a helicopter overhead. thermal imaging detected someone on that boat. they began to move in cautiously. we don't know exactly how it went down. but there was some exchange of gunfire. and after a pause, police in tactical gear assaulted the boat. they threw what are called flash bang grenades that make a bright noise and emit a bright flash and there was some pause after that. then at some point, either he gave up or they talked him out, and he ended up being captured alive and has now been taken to the hospital. >> pete, we are told there was a negotiator on scene. presumably that would be then trying to talk him out of the boat, as you said. was that key to the resolution

of this? >> i don't know. i think one thing that may be key to resolution is the fact he was wounded. and we believe the wound is not from this encounter today. but that he was wounded last night in his hail of gunfire exchange with the watertown police. in which authorities say 200 round were fired. then he sped away. his brother was killed in that encount encounter. we were told by police he was wounded. he lost a fair amount of blood and is in a weakened condition. that may have contributed to the end of this also. >> in terms of how to describe this, is that boston police say he is believed to have suffered a gunshot wound and lost blood. do we know if they are being very specific that it is a single wound? we are wondering if he will survive and be in a tossipositi

be questioned and go on to trial. >> there is no reason to believe he won't be in position to go on trial. we don't know how much blood he lost. he was able to hold them off for a while. we just don't know. i don't think i would read too much into the fact that they said a gunshot wound. i doubt he got a very thorough medical examination as they were getting him out of the boat and put him into the ambulance. >> do you know what will happen to him now in terms of what he is brought and whose custody he will be in? >> oh, yes. he will be in federal custody. these bombing cases are a federal case by federal law. they give the fbi jurisdiction. the crime of domestic terrorism is a federal kind of crime. it trump estate law. this will be a federal case. he will be in the jurisdiction and control of the fbi now. they will, after he is treated and when he can start answering questions, they will try it

start questioning him and with the goal of eventually putting him on trial for weapon of mass destruction. >> pete, is there any reason to believe he would be moved out of boston? we're used to terrorism trials, particularly high profile terrorism trials, held in the southern district of new york or occasionally in virginia. those courts where they are described to us as being particularly capable of not only dealing with classified information but just with handling big high profile cases. boston will presumably want it keep them one there. >> yes, there is, of course. and there is a law that says a federal crime has to be tried in the jurisdiction in which the crime is committed. that's the government's starting point. obviously the defendant can ask for change of envenue. think of the oklahoma city trial. the crime was in oklahoma city but the trial was in denver.

there probably would have been a change of venue had jarod lee loughner not pleaded guilty. that would have been in california instead of arizona. but it never got to that. saturday car saturday caro zacarious moussaoui. you don't always get a change in venue, but sometimes it does. >> word from boston police is that the suspect is in custody. justice has won. hearing from pete williams that this will be an fbi situation.

we don't know how bad the suspect is hurt. has at least one gunshot. michael isikoff joins us now from watertown. michael, what can you you tell us? >> rachel, this is a remarkable scene just over the last 20 minutes to half an hour, when word got out that suspect is in custody. people are out on the street watching and waiting with their cell phone when the word came. cheers burst out from the crowd and as police exited, people are giving a cheer for each vehicle. high-fives and cheers for police and fire. the fire department, first responders. you can hear it still going on.

i saw policemen congratulating etch each other. wave together crowd. they were warmed to the reception they were getting. a real sense of community here on the streets of watertown. >> michael, the country is feeling relief because of not only this guy not being at large, but this being the first step toward justice. having him in custody so he can face justice for what he has done. but the relief that must be felt just from being able to get out. can you talk to us at all about how heavy the law enforcement presence was? what it was like there? >> this is such unbesieged from

one guy, which is -- which is -- just how much terror and fear can you provoked in a community by one individual. one man i was talking to, and what started this around 6:30 when the gunshots came out, and are hurt, he said, he heard gunfire. there were two other rounds fired. so it's a lot for people here to have been through. in just such a short period of time.

and so, yeah, there is a real sense of relief. but also, as i said, it is striking, the gratitude that people feel towards law enforcement. >> absolutely. you can see the gratitude of people on the street for law enforcement. you can also see the relief of law enforcement. i think they are happy to be thanked. michael isikoff on the ground. we will be coming back to you. i want to go cross town to erica hill. erica, i understand you have new information for us. >> yeah, rachel. you've been talking to some people. one woman who live literally behind me. she was above the store inside all day. she said she was so scared and when the order was lifted, she thought, it is lifted but he is still out there. i'm not going outside. she was watching coverage on tv

and when they heard the cheers, she and her husband came out. she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. when the cars came by, you could hear the cheering. when the first s.w.a.t. vehicle came by, boston pd s.w.a.t. vehicle and the officer inside put on the loud speaker and as he came down the street, he said, it was our pleasure. our pleasure for turning your city back over to you. and chants of usa broke out. [ cheers and applause ] we are expecting rachel to get more information. a press briefing which we are expecting to happen around 9:30. we are hoping to get more questions answered that point. >> erica, you are in the middle of a very good scene but a loud

scene. it is great. great to have you there. we will be coming back to you. >> for all of the different law enforcement agencies involved here, we have all seen on social media and on the news today in watertown specifically, just the unbelievable multilayered presence of the different law enforcement. watertown pd. boston pd. atf. fbi. s.w.a.t. teams. national guard. we have seen so many different people involved in the law enforcement side of this on scene. and it has to be an emotional situation for them. an mit officers was killed last night. an officer was wounded in this fight. this is combat for police in boston. so they have been mindful of that, knowing they are the ones out there putting themselves in danger in the first instance trying to protect the public.

some of their own have been hurt and killed. their relief, not only that he did not get away. he got away from the first drag net last night. the one that killed list brother. to have not gotten away another time to have finished this on their own terms. you have to imagine that for law enforcement themselves, watertown is applauding them, but you have to imagine this has to be a an emotional time. i have to ask your reaction on how this has ended thus far. >> this terrorist is alive and he can be be debriefed by the professionals. it is about now stopping the next attack. whatever we can get from him,

how he did it, how his methods were, how he was radicalized, that will help. i predict that boston medical will patch him up. i think he is hurt pretty bad. he has been bleeding all night. but they will patch him up and he will sing like he is on the voice. and they will get information from him and then face the bar of justice and, you know, he has it get justice. it has to be a fair trial. it will probably be a death penalty case. murder charges. state charges. that has to transpire in the bar of justice. he has it have a fair trial. but that will be a long process. >> how does law enforcement work out that balance in terms of needing to keep him alive. needing to afford him humane medical treatment but wanting urgently to know if this plot is

over, if there are any other devices out there. if there are any other people involved, how did they work with the medical, the medical folks in this situation? in terms of negotiating when they get to start talking to them? >> usually, it is not a problem because you know, you are staying close with them pretty much. and the doctors, you know, they do like it push out. they've got to work on his injuries. but it depends on how critical tle are. can you get close to him. can you talk it him pretty soon. they set aside some rooms. it is pretty routine to deal with injured and shot people. blown up people. they will be able to do that. the fbi and cia and intelligence community developed protocols to deal with these terrorist types and they are very good at extracting the information. they will get everything this

guy's got. he is not that sophisticated. he is 19 years old. he thinks he is big terrorist of the world. but he will give all of the information up we can get. the rest of it will be on the computers, rachel, at his house. >> yes. especially bu especially because we know he is an avid social media user. and his brothers as well. this is watertown massachusetts. james, you may not know the answer it this, but i feel like i should ask anyway, one of the things that obama administration did shortly after taking over from the bush administration is that president obama established an elite high value target special interrogation team. which he said that he would use for any high value terrorism targets that would be sort of the state of the art a-team on interrogations. this is a federal case. this guy is in fbi custody. is this the sort of case in which the president's a team on interrogation would be called in

or would this be handled by your standard professional fbi interrogation team? >> i would say the high value target team would be in boston already and they want it interview this guy. these are u.s. citizens. and whatever the protocol that that high value team developed, is going to have to come into play. you remember, this guy came to the u.s. when he was 8 years old. he is a u.s. citizen. all of his rights are afforded but i would say that team is there. and if they are not the ones doing the interview, they are standing outside the door talking to the agent who are doing the interview. >> james cavanaugh, former atf agent in charge. thanks you, james. i want to go back to michael isikoff. more importantly, right now, he is in the happiest place on the eastern seaboard, in watertown, massachusetts, where residents are literally standing in the streets cheering an clapping for law enforcement as they go by.

michael, seems like it is getting more crowded and maybe more boisterous. >> it is definitely festive. but if we can take the discussion to where you just were. >> sure. >> there are a lot of important questions here that people will want answers to. the principal one, how did these two guys -- [ inaudible ] become radical. how did this happen. we learned some new information today that actually is intriguing. the older brother, the gone to rush why for six months last year.

we don't know where in russia he went. but he went. we don't know who he spoke to, who he met with. but he comes back and within one month of his return to the united states, that youtube account in his name pops up. august of 2012. and suddenly he has these radical jihadist videos on there. video about the black banners, an al qaeda cry and the final battle between islamic army from central asia against the infa dells. now where did that come from? how did that happen? was it inspired by or encouraged by people he met in rush why? that a serious question.

not just in terms of philosophically, but even immediately. were there others guiding these guys. were there people giving him instructions? all those are pretty important questions for u.s. intelligence as well as law enforcement. did they have other accomplices here they were working with? they will have the computers, the cell phones. the fbi will be dissecting these minutely. seeing who they made contact with. who they made phone calls to. but there is a lot of work for intelligence agencies in the days and weeks ahead. >> and michael, i would say it would seem to me like tonight before they get to the

motivational issues and what may have motivated his brother who is dead now, there are still questions about explosive devices. these guys were able to put together a number of explosive devices. not just the ones at the marathon but enough to check them out the window of a moving car at police. just blocks away from where you are now in watertown. are there other devices? were there other people involved? that might about the continuing safety of boss totonians tonigh >> there were something like seven ieds recovered in the last 24 hours since all this began. one in charlestown, not directly in proximity of these guys. so are there other ieds that

have been planted around boston or stored some place? that would pose a threat to public safety? >> i have to say, i found it hard to understand when governor patrick announced it was okay for people to go back on the street and how that was different from the situation a few hours earlier when he was encouraging, tell be everybody it stay inside. at that point, he was still in custody. but i always thought he was like the most dangerous part of it. the possibility there were more ieds out there that law enforcement couldn't account for. . >> that may have been because of the inability to keep a city as large as boston to be kept locked down any longer.

hopefully we will hear more on that in the press briefing. michael, please stay with us. right now, i want it go to mike callahan. you see on your screen. boston police, the simple statement, we got him. mike, thank you so much for being with us. can you describe the scene for us, what it was like on your block before he was taken into custody? >> we are on common street. >> okay. >> every time a cop goes by, there is an eruption of cheers and thank yous. that this town can get back it a sense of normality. and on franklin street, i don't know if you can hear people cheering now. but we are just so happy and ready to get back on with our lives. so happy we got him. >> mike, tell me what it was like. everybody is relieved. everybody is happy to hear he is in custody. but in watertown and especially you, being so close to where he

was picked up, it has to be an emotional relief. just a contrast in terms of what it was like earlier today. what was it like before you got him? >> there was a state trooper at every corner of my neighborhood. then today after governor patrick said he was lifting the ban, i was literally on my way out the door to a friend's house. then there were cops on my street and then they knew where he was. basically like i've been waiting it take a deep breath for 24 hours. now the entire community is breathing in and breathing out together. it is so relieving. the town hasn't seen anything like there before. it is a quiet town. everyone knows everyone. now we are celebrating that we can somewhat get back to normal. >> michael, when you were in your house and you knew that was going on, did you feel like you could take shelter?

did you have a basement? were you worried about straight bullet? >> not at first. when i did hear the four shots fired, when they were closer to my house, it was alarming. i wasn't sure -- there are reports going out, that was he on his feet or still stuck in the boat? that when i started to take more shelter but when the crime scene was a few streets up, i didn't feel unsafe. i knew i was in good hands. there were cops on every corner. it was more stressful than anything. just wanted it to be over. >> well, you can hear it on the street an i can hear it behind you over the phone. mike callahan, glad it ended for you the way it did. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> charlie pierce reporting f s esquire magazine. thank you for joining us.

can you give us your interpretation of what happened. >> i'm assuming you're talking to me. >> yes. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i was standing near michael isikoff not an hour ago. you use the word absurdity if it wasn't so serious. from the press conference where they announced they didn't have a suspect and lifted the stay in your house order and five minutes later, i saw five police cars make those screaming cop movie u-turns right in front of me. all of a sudden there was a helicopter. then the entire mall start almost on queue. i began the day in washington. i was in washington doing work yesterday. i came up in the middle of the day today. and this is, this area, is right where my family used to live a long time ago and where i do most of my work from is this small office in water town square. so it see the geography of your life all over television with armored personnel carriers and

everything was a little bit daunting. >> charlie, i will interrupt you for a second because the police press conference, including governor patrick is about to strt. we will come back to you charlie, stand by. >> okay. i thought y'all went home. >> we are so grateful to be here right now. we are so grateful no bring justice closure to this case. for the families that lost loved ones or that suffered injuries they have to live with for the rest of their lives, for a police officer, a young man starting a career, at mit, and police officer with the mbta who almost lost his life and from neighborhoods that lived in fear for an entire day, we are eternally grateful for the outcome here tonight. we have a suspect in custody. i want to thank all of the

partners who worked tirelessly over the last four days, including the fbi, transit police, our brothers with the boston police department, the u.s. attorney's office, and the support that we've gotten from our governor over the last four days. we're exhausted, folks. but we have a victory here tonight. but let's not forget those people along the way. thanks very much. >> governor? >> thank you, colonel. >> well, on behalf of krystal and martin and lingzi and on behalf of the officers lost last note and transit police officers injured, on behalf of the hundreds many people who were hurt by the explosions at the marathon, i want to say how grateful i am to the colonel, to the special agent in charge, to all of the law enforcement who

work sewed well and so hard together, together, to bring us to tonight's conclusion. it was a very, very complicated case, very challenging case and there are still in questions remaining to be answered. but as the colonel says, because of that extraordinary collaboration and cooperation by all of the law enforcement resources and assets and more to the point, people, professionals, who brought their a-game, we have a suspect in custody. tonight. i want to also just thank all of the members of the public for their extraordinary patience. their participation in this investigation by reviewing photographs of their own and others that were up through the media and we thank you for that. and helping us narrow in on these suspects. they were helpful and patient and we are grateful for that as

well. it is a night where i think we will all rest easy. >> excuse me. >> good evening. i'm the united states attorney carmen ortiz. and i have to say that both the governor and the colonel have put it tremendously well. tonight we fell a tremendous sense of gratitude and relief. the ordeal that this community, especially this neighborhood has endured over the last 24 hours, tonight we can sleep a bit easier. and all of the unpredictable, horrific and yet heroic acts that have occurred over the last several days, starting with the terrible bombing attacks that occurred on monday, here we are and not forgetting the victims of the crimes that have occurred over the last several days. victims of the bombings. as the governor said, martin,

lingzi, krystle. an officer fighting for his life and an officer lost. this has been an active and ongoing investigation. for some of you, tonight is closure. for me, the journey continues. and so this will continue to be an ongoing and active investigation as we sought all of the details, continue to evaluate a tremendous amount of efd and file our formal charges. but i will say this. i have never been prouder to stand about a tremendous group of law enforcement here, from the colonel to the commissioner to my federal colleague with the

fbi. all of the federal agencies, state and local departments that work sewed hard. so hard since the attacks on monday. so committed and putting their lives on the line as we fought the last 24 hours to try to get a suspect into custody. so my journey and my offices journey begins and this investigation will continue so we will not be able to provide the details that you may want at this time. but as days continue, you will get answers to those questions. thank you. >> may oor? >> i want to say briefly, thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you to law enforcement officials for working together. state police, boston police, fbi. all working together. that's when government works the best. i want to thank also the citizens out there. last week, -- today with the

hard work of so many individuals, boston police working together with the state police, we have a conclusion that we are all satisfied with. and folks, the folks that lost their lives the past week -- [ inaudible ] and to all of you folk in the media, thank you for the support you gave us for the past week. it wasn't easy. some days you said, why. let me tell you, working hard, spending a lot of time with law enforcement officials. they work so hard this week to come to a conclusion tonight. we say thank you to them. the work they did. chasing down every one of those leads we got. which is so significant to what is at the end of the case today. thank you. now it is up to her job in the federal courts. i feel so good about this, i tell you. i'm so happy.

because the people in the greater boston area can sleep tonight because of the work of these individuals. >> good evening. my name is rick delorier. it seems like many months since the day of the boston marathon bombings yes yet it has been merely five days sin the tragic explosions that took three lives, critically injured over 180 spectators and instilled terror and fear among citizens of the city of boston, common wealth of massachusetts and elsewhere. today the city of boston, city of cambridge and city of watertown and many other communities can breath a sigh of relief knowing that two perpetrators who cause sewed much pain and anguish are no longer a threat to our personal safety and to our commune pipts

communities. . together with the joint support of action task force partners, many on the stage with me this evening, fbi and partners remain vigilant and continue to follow through thousands of leads and sift through hundreds of tips through thousands of man hours to reach this moment. this was truly an absolutely entense investigation and i do emphasize a truly intense investigation. as a result of that, justice will be had for the victims. i want to think our partners for bringing us to this evening. thank you very much and i support you -- i thank you for your support of our media campaign the other day which publicized photos. i thank you very, very much for the support the media provided us on that.

it was phenomenal and i thank you all for that. >> commissioner davis. >> four days ago my city was ruthlessly attacked. there's no explaining the savagery involved here. there is no explanation for it. i spent the last several days looking at hundreds of hours of videotape. i got see how brought yl that attack was over and over and over again. but more importantly i got to see what the boston police officers who responded to that scene, along with medical personnel and other first responders, did to put people back together. turn turn cats, putting a man on fire out with their hands. these are the things that came out of the savagery. it makes me proud to be a boston police officer. makes me proud to be a part of this team. rick delorier from the fbi could not be more cooperative.

we have sat together almost hour for hour for the last four days. sharing every bit of information on a real team. colonel albans, same way. carmen ortiz with us all the time. then to bring the governor and mayor together, leading the city of boston. i want to say, the citizens have been incredibly patient with us. they have endured heartache over the last four days. we are very happy to try to put this back together p. thank you. >> watertown police chief deval. >> i can't be prouder of my community in the men and women in the water town police department what they have been through and what we have been through the last 24 hours i wouldn't want to see another police department go through. the support we've had, from all of the different agencies mentioned tonight over the last 24 hours has been incredible.

to see so many agencies work together with the governor, mayor of boston and our officials in watertown has been great. i spoke to the people in watertown before but i can't thank you enough. the community stood strong, a call from a resident in watertown. we asked you to remain vigilant and you did. we got that call and we got the guy. we can't thank you enough. you've done everything and more than we've asked. extremely proud of law enforcement today and what we have accomplished. thank you. >> chief did you have communication with the suspect? >> excuse me. we're not done. . chief mcmillan? >> i want to thank all those who sent thoughts and prayers to officer donohue and his family. please know it was deeply appreciated. thank you. and i also want to commend all of the law enforcement agencies who took part in this.

this is true dedication and commitment at its best and i'm proud to be part of it. thank you. >> special agent in charge of the atf. >> i'm special agent in charge of atf. >> go around here. >> all right. >> today the entire world witnessed the commitment to apprehending these offenders. this will never scene in the protection of every town, every city and every neighborhood in our nation. atf employees will continue to go out to victims as they heal from the senseless act of violence. may god bless the citizens. >> suffolk county district attorney dan connolly. >> thank you very much. i was listening to the police action all afternoon on the radio and i would like to join my voice or add my voice, i should say, to those who came before me to say what an extraordinary police operation

across all jurisdictions that i was able to listen to and witness today. i was done at the scene early on. and in my business, kecarmen, myself, it is about accountability. i can't say how pleased i am that second subject was take n alive. congratulations to a job very well done and now the task ahead for accountability. thank you. >> we will take questions. >> how did the events transpire at the boat? >> the there was a call that came into the watertown police. three boston police officers along with trait troopers, and fbi agent responded to franklin street. a man had gone out of his house after being inside the house all day, abiding by our request to stay inside. he walked outside and saw blood on the boat in the backyard. he then opened the tarp on the top of the boat and looked in

and saw a man covered with blood. he retreated and called us. we set up a perimeter around that boat and over the course of the next hour or so, we exchanged gunfire with the suspect who was inside the boat. and ultimately, the hostage rescue team or fbi made an entry into the boat and removed the suspect who was still alive in the boat. >> can you talk about the imperative of taking him alive. >> we always want to take our suspects alive. >> i understand that. but with respect to this individual. you talk about accountability and why -- >> we always want to take someone alive so find out what happened, with a why it happened end hold them to justice. >> how badly injured -- >> the hostage rescue team did work in trying to negotiate him out of that boat. they did try to talk him out. from what i understand, he was

not communicative. >> has anyone aided and abetted the suspect? >> i don't have that information. >> can you talk about the suspect's injuries? >> -- you've got this guy, this is it. >> i think at this time, the citizens in this area can be confident that threat has been removed. >> suspect is in serious condition at the hospital. >> how did you know these were the suspects you were looking for? they didn't rob the 7-eleven so how did you know they were there at the same time. >> suspects came to our attention after a vicious assassination of the police officer at mit. and subsequent robbery that occurred. we've got videotape from a gas station. the robbery actually was a

carjacking. car taken from the scene. officer engaged that car from the watertown police department along with other officers. we were then able to put the case together. >> -- shot when you were apprehending him at the boat? was he shot by a police officer. >> the man who found him at the boat said he was covered with blood. he assume those injuries occurred the evening before. there was gunfire at the boat. i don't know if he was struck. there was a house in new bedford that hostage rescue team went into for the fbi. we felt it was important to the investigation but the suspect was not found. >> given he was still out there and armed drn- >> i'm sorry? >> can you tell us more about sean collier? was he shot in cold blood? what do you know about it? >> my assessment of that particular incident is he was assassinated in his cruiser. >> do you know what he was doing

there? >> responding to a call for a disturbance. >> given he was out there and still armed, was it a mistake to give the all-clear and let people go outside and have people at risk. >> we certainly did not give an all-clear. colonel was here and spoke eloquently to this. we had no information the suspect was holed up in this particular area. he managed to allude us by being slightly outside of the perimeter we set up. but in truth, we told everybody, that this was a dangerous situation and they should be cautious. this is a very dangerous time in the world. we have to use caution. that's what we ask people to do. thankfully this man who found the suspect did the right thing. he called us right away. called 911 and we were able to take care of the situation. there's no report of explosives with him captured. but i got to tell you, i was at the scene last night, there was an exchange of over 200 round of

gunfire. improvised explosive devices an handmade grenades thrown at the officers on the scene. this is almost unheard of. so these officers acted heroically, heroically, courage protected the community, and protected each other when they responded to the scene. there's been an incredible team. >> did he have a weapon on the boat? >> he did. you know what, i can't say. i was told there was exchange of gunfire. >> no miranda warning? >> the fbi may want to explain that, it is a federal issue. >> had the boat been searched earlier? >> just a minute, we are going to finish the question. >> no, it did not.

>> there was no miranda warning, they were claiming public safety exception. could we get explanation? >> there's public safety in cases of national security and involving acts of terrorism. the government has that opportunity, right now i believe the suspect has been taken to a hospital. we start with there. thank you. >> i'm sorry? >> will you seek the federal death penalty? >> you know, what i indicated earlier is that this is still an active, on-going investigation. we're going to be reviewing all of the evidence, before that kind of decision is made in terms of whether or not to seek the death penalty, you review all of the evidence and it is a very thoughtful, long process that is engaged and it is the attorney general of department of justice that makes that final decision. >> i'm sorry.

karen? >> can you or colonel alben talk about what happened when you were on the scene, was he moving around? how did you know there was a chance to take him into custody. >> yes. we know he didn't go straight to the boat. we set up the perimeter with the best intentions with a lot of information. we found blood in the car he abandoned, blood behind a house inside the perimeter, we had no information he had gotten out of the perimeter. it was very chaotic this morning. we had a police officer shot, bleeding, there was a lot of things going on. thought we had the perimeter solid, and we pretty much did that, we were about one block away. he had to be moving a little bit after he was behind a house for a period of time that we know. >> was he moving -- how did you know that you could take him into custody? had he been moving around, were you able to watch him? >> sure. the reason we knew this is our

helicopter had actually detected the subject in the boat. we have a forward looking infrared device on the helicopter, picked up that heat signature of the individual, even though he was under what appeared to be shrink wrap or cover of the boat, and there was movement from that point on. the helicopter was able to direct the tactical teams and ultimately take him into custody. [ inaudible ] >> it was outside the perimeter during the day. it was not searched. this was the act of a citizen that went out and discovered this individual in the boat and ultimately called the watertown police department and resulted in this, our response. >> is there a chance the suspect won't make it and live to tell the story of what happened? >> i'm sorry? >> is there a chance the subject won't make it? >> i don't know, i didn't see him when he was taken in custody. i know he is in serious

condition. i think we have taken enough questions for now. thank you. >> thank you. >> press conference in watertown, massachusetts, wrapping up, hearing from the governor, from the mayor of the city of boston, from head of the police department in watertown to the u.s. attorney to the special agent in charge of the fbi and special agent in charge of the atf, it was the round robin of all the agencies involved. we got the most from the commissioner of police, ed davis, that gave us a number of granular details about what happened taking the custody into custody. we are await president obama due to speak live on this matter within a matter of minutes. we will go to that as soon as it happens. in terms of new information we learned, the most remarkable thing is how they found him. the watertown police chief got up his turn at the mike, said we

got that call from a watertown resident and that's how we got the guy. we're told a resident once the shelter in place order was lifted stopped sheltering in place, went outside. his boat was parked outside the house. he noticed blood on the tarp that covered the boat. the resident approached it and pulled the tarp back and saw the suspect hiding inside the boat covered in blood. the resident retreated, called 911. police immediately screeched to the scene, set up a perimeter, and flew a helicopter over the site. equipped with thermal imaging technology so they could use essentially the suspect's heat register, they could tell there was a live body inside that boat. they knew there was then a reason to go in. ultimately it was the hostage rescue team of the fbi that tried to talk him out of the boat. he was described as noncommunicative, presumably talking didn't work.

we don't know how they got him out. there was exchange of gunfire. shots were fired at the boat at that time, but they don't know if that's where he got the wounds. since he was covered in blood when he first pulled back the carp, imagine that when they remake the movie of this, they presumed he was wounded from previous exchange of gunfire last night, although it could have been somebody else's blood, we don't know. they don't know if he was hit again. described as being in serious condition. apart of being asked if there might be other assailants, if there might be people on the loose that pose a threat to the people of boston, the answer from police commissioner was not a direct answer, but he said sort of vague terms he believes boston can feel safe tonight with this young man in custody. it was detail we didn't have at

this point, in terms of how he got away, interestingly, the watertown chief essentially saying they set up a perimeter, it was a firm perimeter. they don't believe they lost anything out of the perimeter they set up but it was too smil. he eluded the perimeter by one block. he eluded capture until shelter in place order was lifted and law enforcement could once again count on members of the public to help them get this guy. wow. joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker. how did the president find out about the capture? >> reporter: rachel, i can tell you according to administration sources, fbi director robert mueller made the president aware of tonight's arrest. this is the phone call that he has been hoping to get all day and really all week, if you think about it. robert mueller has been keeping the president up to date not only through the day briefing him, but really briefing him the

past several days during this developing story. the president also held a briefing with his entire national security team early this morning, rachel, he's continued to monitor the swaying. we haven't really heard from anyone from the white house today on camera. that is by design. they didn't want to speak about it because it was evolving, there were so many unknowns. before a top official said something on the record, they wanted to be sure they understood exactly what was happening. i can give you a sense of what was going on behind the scenes, rachel. administration officials were watching not only our newscasts but local feeds to monitor exactly what was happening and have a tick tock as we were doing all night long, watching this incredible scene unfold. as you point out, president obama is expected to speak. he wanted to wait for the press conference in massachusetts to wrap up. we expect him any minute now.

>> chris ten welker, thank you. want to bring in richard engel, we learned since we started talking this suspect will be questioned by a team called high value detainee interrogation group, consists of fbi, cia, defense department and obama administration officials telling nbc news no miranda warning will be given. they'll invoke the public safety exemption is something they can only do for about 48 hours. >> it is designed to get immediate actionable intelligence. are there more bombs out there. do you have suspects, are there other suspects on the loose, are you working with anyone. those are the immediate questions. two pieces of very good news that came out of this tonight. one, that he was taken alive. all day i have been speaking with counter terrorism officials, their number one priority was get this guy alive because they want